Particulate compounds that absorb at various wavelengths have been used in photographic silver halide materials for many years. For example, such compounds have been used as "filter" dyes to absorb electromagnetic radiation ("light") from different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as red, blue, green, ultraviolet and infrared regions. These filter dyes are often required to perform the function of absorbing light during exposure of the material so as to prevent or at least inhibit light of a particular region of the spectrum from reaching at least one of the radiation-sensitive layers of the material.
Particulate filter dyes can be designed with various features to facilitate their use and/or immobilization in photographic materials, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,956 (Diehl et al).
There is a need in the photographic industry for compounds that absorb in the near infrared and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum for various purposes. Such materials can be used, for example, to absorb heat and to initiate or facilitate imaging in lithographic printing plates. However, such compounds (that is, IR dye sensitizers) must be compatible with other components of imaging formulations used in such printing plates.
Organic dye salts, by nature, are often partially soluble in water or alcoholic coating solvents and are thus preferred as IR dye sensitizers in lithographic plate imaging compositions. However, many such salts have been found to be unacceptable because of insufficient solubility, because they react with the charged polymer to form hydrophobic products that can result in scummed or toned images, or because they offer insufficient thermal sensitization in imaging members. In particular, there is a need to have IR dye sensitizers that are compatible with thiosulfate polymers, such as those described in copending and commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No., 09/156,833 filed Sep. 18, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,514.